Carbonized article and process of making same



No Drawing.

Patented Apr. 12, 1927.

. JAMES BECKWI'IH, on EUGENE, OREGON... 1

the producfrom clay, which 7 An object of the invention is tion of articles, specifically pipes, meerschaum or similar substances,

have the small interstices of the body there- V pole'having an opening aroun of carbon and are given charcoal in pits is to of wholly or partly filled with fine particles a desired color ranging from light brown to intense black.

Another object of the inventionis a process for making these articles by a simple treatment in which they are produced as a by-product in the manufacture of charcoal or coke in pits. V

A common manner of manufacturing form a somewhat frusto-conical pile of wood around a central d it. The sticks of Wood are arranged in tiers and layers, the number of each depending upon the size of the pit, and over the outer layer of Wood is placed a layer of straw which in turn is covered with earth. The pit is fired in the center and takes about three weeks to burn. V

In the preferredform of carrying out this process, the articles of clay or meerschaum or similar substance, are placed underneath the outer layer of wood, and for convenience, at the top of the second tier, and are covered by this outer "layer, the layer of straw and the layer of earth. The exact location is immaterial except that they should be placed well toward the outside of the stack.

So far as the invention is concerned, these articles may be packed in-any desired manner provided that the gases, smoke and'vola tile products may have ready access thereto. A very satisfactory manner articles as pipes has been them tightly in a box which is bored full of holes. This is merely for convenience, since a single article or a plurality in the pit without any container will be properlytreated. I

When the pit is fired, the smoke, gases, and volatile products driven off from the wood circulate through the layers and come in. contact with the articles. For a long time, these are not raised to a very high heat, and certain of the volatile products may condense and be absorbed by the articles. However, as the pit continues toburn, the temperature increases, and if the articles are left until the firing is completed, they will.

ultimately be sub about 1800 degrees products which have ected to a temperature of F. Not only the volatile been deposited on or of packing such found to place thereof placed 1 Application filed Au ustis, 192.4. SerialNo. 732,729.

absorbed by the articles will be driven off, but any volatile elements of the material of the articles themselves will be driven off.

Very fine particles of carbon will be de- 00 posited in the interstices of the body of the article and the clay or meerschaum willbe hardened.

If the articles ing the entire firing of the an intense black. If removed earlier, lighter shades may be obtained. They will take a very high polish readily. and break with difficulty. The exact character of the product will vary rial employed, but in hardness, and capacity for a high polish are characteristic.

It is to be noted that the execution of this are allowedto remain dur- I pit they will be with the character of the mategeneral a dark color,

process requires no special preparation of '7 the article... Pipes-ofmeerschaum or clay,

or other articles o'fthe same or similar mate- 7 rials are manufactured in the usual manner and then subjected to the treatment as described. process "described requires no modification of the usual method of burning charcoal. The treatment of the articles can therefore be carried out as an incident to the usual charcoal burning. be afterwards painted or colored or treated as desired. In the case of pipes, any desired type of mouthpiece may be provided.

"While my invention relates broadly to arprocess for treating the same, it is specifi-v cally adapted to pipes and more especially to meerschaum pipes. Meerschaum pipes thus treated have an appearance similar to those This further to be noted that the The treated articles may Iticles of any desired type and the particular colored by long smoking and are rendered very hard so that danger of breakage is small. :Pipes of'any material thus treated absorb nicotinelessreadily and do not be- 7 come strong.

This application is closely related to apto be regarded as limited only by the scope of the appended I claims. a y

I claim as my invention:

1. A process for the treatment of articles which comprises subjecting them for a rela-' tively long period to the volatile products arising in the production of charcoal and for a relatively short period to a temperature high enough to drive ofl Volatile constituents from the articles and deposit fine particles of carbon in the interstices of the 5 material of the articles.

2. As an article of manufacture, a meerschaum pipe having finely divided carbon deposited in the interstices of the 1n eer schaum, whereby the same is hardened, given a high color and rendered susceptible 10 of taking a high polish.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

' JAMES BEOKWITH. 

